my daughter has her second cold of her life. [not bad, considering she's almost two]. i hate when she's sick. not because she wakes up in the middle of the night, or because she wants me to hold her more during the day. i know the time is coming quickly when i won't be able to hold her at all and i'll long for these days again. so i don't begrudge it, i love it.
anyway, i hate when she's sick because i can't do my usual cold regimen with her. there are a few things i can do, but most of them, i can't. she's just too little:
1. gargle with half hydrogen peroxide/ half water as soon as i feel it coming on. about 4 or 5 times a day or until the sore throat eases away, which is usually within a day, if i catch it soon enough. i think it just kills all those germs that are waiting to attack you. [not sure she understands the concept of gargling yet?]
2. bombard my system with vitamin D and vitamin C. vitamin D is a miracle, i believe. it comes right from the sun, just the way God designed it... but if you think about it, flu season is always during the winter months when there's not a lot of sun to be had. so, i take it in softgel form daily. but if i feel i'm getting sick, i will up the dosage. if i AM sick, i will crank up the dosage even higher. [this is something that i can, fortunately, do for my daughter]
3. drink a million gallons of water. this one seems pretty self explanatory. [can't force her to drink water if she doesn't want it, you know. though i try and try!]
4. drink lots of hot tea. organic, caffeine free... add some honey and lemon if i really need it. really just for soothing, and another way to get water down. [can babies even drink tea?]
5. bust out the neti pot. i HATE this, but it works. i hate it because i feel like i'm drowning, but after a few minutes, my whole sinus cavity is clear and i can breathe again. every time i use it, it's such a dramatic scene. i'm a baby sometimes. [she wouldn't understand this concept either]
6. slather on the tea tree oil. a few drops will do. just a few drops onto your finger, and then up by your nostrils. maybe a drop on your tongue too if you can handle it. [it's great for clearing up skin blemishes, too. and i have my fair share of pimples, so i would know :) ] [not a good thing to get into your eyes, so i don't want to put it on her face]
7. cut out any and all processed foods and sugar. eat lots of raw fruits and veggies instead. blend a bunch into a smoothie. whatever it takes, but no sugar allowed. it completely attacks the immune system, leaving your body defenseless, and offense-less (?) to fight the sickness that's attacking. [again, another thing i can do with my daughter. as long as she doesn't scream for 10 minutes about how she will eat nothing else but "butter jelly", i'm safe]
i guess you can tell- i don't use medicine. or, at least i avoid it at all costs. if there was something that was totally incurable through natural remedies, and i needed, for example, antibiotics, i would use them. but i do whatever i can not to. i just think the less chemicals in my system, the better. and hey, if these natural remedies work, and either keep me from getting really sick in the first place, or lessen the gestation of the sickness, why not use them? [honestly, i don't know if "gestation" is the right word :) by that i just mean: make the sickness last for less time]. anyway, if all else fails- i'd just recommend lots of sleeping and spoonfuls of Nyquil like my husband does when he's sick. i don't judge, i just don't do it for myself or my daughter :)
if you don't use medicine, what do you do for your kids when they're sick? i'd love to know!
if you're interested in more information on natural living in general, check out mercola.com or naturalnews.com
anyway, i hate when she's sick because i can't do my usual cold regimen with her. there are a few things i can do, but most of them, i can't. she's just too little:
1. gargle with half hydrogen peroxide/ half water as soon as i feel it coming on. about 4 or 5 times a day or until the sore throat eases away, which is usually within a day, if i catch it soon enough. i think it just kills all those germs that are waiting to attack you. [not sure she understands the concept of gargling yet?]
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| [photo credit] |
3. drink a million gallons of water. this one seems pretty self explanatory. [can't force her to drink water if she doesn't want it, you know. though i try and try!]
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| [photo credit] |
5. bust out the neti pot. i HATE this, but it works. i hate it because i feel like i'm drowning, but after a few minutes, my whole sinus cavity is clear and i can breathe again. every time i use it, it's such a dramatic scene. i'm a baby sometimes. [she wouldn't understand this concept either]
6. slather on the tea tree oil. a few drops will do. just a few drops onto your finger, and then up by your nostrils. maybe a drop on your tongue too if you can handle it. [it's great for clearing up skin blemishes, too. and i have my fair share of pimples, so i would know :) ] [not a good thing to get into your eyes, so i don't want to put it on her face]
7. cut out any and all processed foods and sugar. eat lots of raw fruits and veggies instead. blend a bunch into a smoothie. whatever it takes, but no sugar allowed. it completely attacks the immune system, leaving your body defenseless, and offense-less (?) to fight the sickness that's attacking. [again, another thing i can do with my daughter. as long as she doesn't scream for 10 minutes about how she will eat nothing else but "butter jelly", i'm safe]
i guess you can tell- i don't use medicine. or, at least i avoid it at all costs. if there was something that was totally incurable through natural remedies, and i needed, for example, antibiotics, i would use them. but i do whatever i can not to. i just think the less chemicals in my system, the better. and hey, if these natural remedies work, and either keep me from getting really sick in the first place, or lessen the gestation of the sickness, why not use them? [honestly, i don't know if "gestation" is the right word :) by that i just mean: make the sickness last for less time]. anyway, if all else fails- i'd just recommend lots of sleeping and spoonfuls of Nyquil like my husband does when he's sick. i don't judge, i just don't do it for myself or my daughter :)
if you don't use medicine, what do you do for your kids when they're sick? i'd love to know!
if you're interested in more information on natural living in general, check out mercola.com or naturalnews.com
Oh no, not the sickies! Having a sick little one is always worse than being sick yourself. I hope you don't catch it! I don't use a lot of medicines (like cough medicine, etc.) on my kids unless it's prescription antibiotics (they get lots of ear and sinus infections). For a plain old cold, I usually stick to saline nose drops, humidifiers, sometimes Vick's baby rub.. and lots of mommy time.
ReplyDeletehi kim! thanks for your input :) vick's baby rub- i'll have to look into that. i'm so leary of anything that's not all natural (besides anti-biotics or something more serious that might be needed), but i haven't researched vick's. and the humidifier is a good idea. do you have a specific brand that you use? i think there are times you should use one and times you shouldn't? i don't know, maybe i'm making this up. it's been a long day over here :) but any info you have would be great. just email me if/when you have the chance [alysonrallen@gmail.com].
ReplyDeleteHi Aly,
ReplyDeleteI don't have any kids yet, but hubby and I are hoping to be blessed sometime soon. I too am not big into pumping my body full of chemicals and prefer the natural route whenever possible. (I get a lot of funny reactions about that as I'm a nurse by trade) I know a holisic medicine Dr. (he's amazing, he's cured cancer without chemo) and he swears by ecchinacea and lemon water. Not sure about the safety of those for a toddler, but the tips are good for Mommas too. Just squeeze half a fresh lemon into an 8 oz glass of water. Drink as many as you can tolerate in a day and make sure to brush you teeth frequently as the acid isn't great for tooth enamel. The idea is to make your body's pH an acidic unfriendly environment for germ breeding. It's helped me more times than I can count!